Susan Allen, Jess Jeffries & Elissa Lincoln Featured in New Show - Inside Art with Michael Rose

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

 

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It is exciting to see new artists joining the ranks of those represented by established galleries in Rhode Island. At Dryden Gallery in North Providence, current exhibitions highlight many artists, including a number who are new exhibitors in the state and in the venue. Works on view range from expressive abstract paintings to subtle paper collages and more, bringing fresh artistic perspectives to the local scene.

 

At Dryden, a three-person show titled Garden Party is featured in the front half of the exhibition space, while the other area within the gallery is dedicated to a rotating display of artists represented. Garden Party features paintings, collages, and fiber-based works by Susan Allen, Jess Jeffries, and Elissa Lincoln.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Susan Allen is a Boston-based creative who has fiber works on view. Allen’s quilted wall hangings are quiet and subdued, with tones that tie in to works by her co-exhibitors. Pale neutrals and blues show off the craftsmanship behind Allen’s work. Alongside her contributions, artworks by Jeffries and Lincoln focus on the abstract and the organic.

 

Jess Jeffries is showing splashy paintings created utilizing playful forms of paint and media application. Originally from Rhode Island, the artist earned her BFA at the Maine College of Art, where she studied in multiple disciplines. Primarily exhibiting at galleries in Maine, where she now resides, Garden Party is Jeffries’ first major exhibition in Rhode Island. Her paintings in the show effortlessly become a vivid focal point. A departure from more painterly abstracts common in Rhode Island, Jeffries stains raw canvas and layers other media on top of paint to meld the sensibilities of both drawing and painting into an exciting whole. She also often engages the edges of her paintings, inviting the eye to travel around the corner of the stretcher to look for more. Her works are lyrical.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Speaking of her collaboration with Dryden, Jeffries says, “I was thrilled when Liz Kelley, Art Curator of Dryden Gallery, reached out to ask if I wanted to be a part of this group show. Not only because I have long admired both Lincoln and Allen’s work, but because this show provides me with the opportunity to return home with my work as an established artist and share this experience with my family, all of whom were present for the opening and still reside in my home town of Warwick. It isn’t often that I get to share my work with my family and this felt like a special event because of that.”

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Alongside Allen and Jeffries, Elissa Lincoln is sharing finely crafted and sensitively designed collages. An art educator and studio artist working in Beverly, Massachusetts, Lincoln is a 2015 graduate of Gordon College, and recently exhibited at the Belmont Gallery of Art in Belmont, Massachusetts. Lincoln’s collages are remarkable for their exquisite detail and pronounced fragility. Looking through their shadow box frames, viewers will find a depth of delicate forms that are enjoyable to view carefully.

 

In the rear part of the gallery space, works by a larger group of artists are on display. Many of these are gaining new representation at Dryden Gallery. Standouts here include millefleur-style paintings by Dana Kohlmann of Sante Fe, New Mexico, laser-cut shaped florals by New Hampshire artist Mary O’Malley, and local landscapes by Timothy Tait.

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Tait is an accomplished artist and designer based in Rhode Island. Originally from New York, Tait earned a BFA from the Pratt Institute and has enjoyed a long and varied career in design, concluding as a senior design for Malcolm Grear in Providence. Since 2015, he has focused on his own studio practice, and creates paintings that often focus on the local landscape. Tait is an astute colorist and his paintings are full of carefully observed swaths of light.

 

Asked about his participation, Tait says, “I'm thrilled to be showing my work with the Dryden Gallery. Liz Kelley selected works from a few different series that I'm working on. Life is too diverse to stay on one thing — I need to have several directions going at once, like lighting many candles in case one blows out. The common thread of all my work is the experience of visual phenomena and how images can create a lasting, meaningful imprint in our memory.”

 

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PHOTO: Michael Rose

 

Dryden Gallery’s current offerings show off a range of talents in a variety of media and do much to celebrate artists who have recently joined the venue’s roster. Bringing new voices into the local mix plays an important role in any exhibition space, and these shows do not disappoint.

 

Dryden Gallery is located at 1350 Mineral Spring Avenue in North Providence and is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9 am - 5 pm.

Learn more and plan your visit at www.drydengallery.com

Michael Rose is a multi-talented fine art professional based in Southern New England. Since 2014 he has served as the gallery manager at the historic Providence Art Club, one of the nation’s oldest arts organizations. Through his current freelance work he advises collectors and artists, provides appraisal services, teaches, and completes curatorial projects.

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